Problems resolved
Using the parent object for physics seems to work without problems. As for our other crashes the command
Anvel::Rendering::RendererManager::GetSingleton().DestroyLineRenderable(DLineId_[i]);
will cause a crash with no feedback (unhandled no exceptions) if it is called on a target that is not valid. My plugin uses this command to update rendered lines in a loop with a varying number of iterations so this happened often. A working fix is to store data from the previous loop to control the delete function. I would like to know if there is a way to check that an Id is valid for a function before calling that function because that would be an easier and more stable way to fix this problem.

I found a thread on this issue. I think I need to build it myself.

@jmk479 ,

Based on your feedback, we've published a new wiki page detailing the API changes, here: https://wiki.anvelsim.com/3/index.php/API_Changes_2.5_3.0

Regards,
ANVEL Support

@linedeschenes said in Using Google earth?:

Hello, Can you tell me if I can download a terrain that I can take from Google earth? I the academic version? thanks

We have a tutorial for importing georeferenced environments using Google Earth and image editing tools, here: http://wiki.anvelsim.com/3/index.php/Importing_Geo-Referenced_Environments

Hopefully that helps!

Regards,
ANVEL Team

With the release of ANVEL 3.0, ANVEL's API has been updated with new variable names and conventions. The PathRecorder script posted above no longer works. An updated version of this script can be found below. This is confirmed to work in ANVEL 3.0.
0_1528128681358_PathRecorder.py

The other script posted, 0_1496768946074_PathConstructor.py requires no changes and works fine in ANVEL 3.0.

Regards,
ANVEL Support

Now that ANVEL 3.0 is out, the issue found here has been fixed.

trackVeh = anv.CreateObject('HMMWV2', 'Tracking', 0, Point3(-113.72, -110.75,0.32144400000000001), Euler(0, 0, 0), True) roamVeh = anv.CreateObject('Generic 4x4', 'Roaming', 0, Point3(-107.669, -184.566, -0.48190300000000003), Euler(0, 0, 0), True) trackPath = anv.CreatePath('TrackingPath', trackingPath()) roamPath = anv.CreatePath('RoamingPath', roamingPath()) anv.SendStringCommandParamList('FollowPath', [str(roamVeh.objectKey), str(roamPath.objectKey), '6']) anv.SendStringCommandParamList('FollowPath', [str(trackVeh.objectKey), str(trackPath.objectKey),'6']) anv.SetSimulationState(SimulationState.RUNNING_REALTIME)

Here is the above script slightly modified to run in the new ANVEL 3.0. This is confirmed to work with no exception thrown.

Regards,
ANVEL Support

Understood. It was just a matter of convenience - being able to run everything from the built-in console would mean fewer windows to manage. But if it ain't possible, no biggie.

@Tom.Stanko said in Servo Force Curve:

Would it be possible to get a bit of explanation, with regard to the parameters associated with the servo forceCurve.
Specifically, what effects the dampening, h, m, maxRate, and torque have on the performance?
Trying to tune the small robot arms, to stop the robots from flying away when the gripper contacts the ground.

@Tom-Stanko,

Assuming you're asking about the LeverArmServo (http://wiki.anvelsim.com/2/index.php/ANVELProperties#Servo#LeverArmServo), we actually haven't used this servo type in any of the arms that we've modelled recently - we tend to stick with linear and angular servos, which may be more robust. I can send you the code snippet that explains the LeverArmServo if you'd like - however if you goal is to increase stability of the arm system, it might be better to adjust the ODE contact correction factors, or disable ground collisions entirely (unless that's an important effect for your simulation).

Regards,
The ANVEL Team

@swm0022 said in Deformable Terrain Surface Parameters:

I am interested in creating new surface types with custom deformability characteristics. Is there a description of the parameters that influence the surface deformation?

http://wiki.anvelsim.com/2/index.php/ANVELProperties#Surface

There are a number of surface parameters on the above page that do not have descriptions, and I suspect that these might have to do with deformable terrain.

I would assume that a pressure from the vehicle's contact area and weight is calculated, and compared against an elastic modulus for the surface type to determine deformation. Any correction or pointers on how to work with ANVEL's dynamic terrain deformation would be appreciated!

Thanks for your interest in the deformable terrain system! As you probably deduced, this system is still "experimental" - we hope to focus on completing the documentation and providing some examples after our 3.0 release next month. In the meantime, could you provide some more information on what type of surface you are trying to create and what kind of data you have available? That might help us steer you in the right direction.

Regards,
ANVEL Support

@zen_perception said in LIDAR with non-linear vertical distribution:

I would like to simulate the Velodyne VPL-32C LIDAR but it's vertical laser distribution is non-linear. Is there currently any support for this? If not, is it possible to modify the LIDAR sensor model to support this?

Thanks

Thanks for writing in! To implement this sensor, we'd recommend writing a plugin, which would be able to simulate any beam configuration that you require. Quantum Signal has worked on a VLP-16 plugin and we also intend to develop at VLP-32, so it may be a good opportunity to collaborate. Feel free to reach out to sales@quantumsignal.com to discuss options.

Regards,
ANVEL Support

@dsb0029 said in Heightmap Generation Tool:

I am trying to use the Heightmap tool in Sim -> Environment. Where does this tool export the heightmap files to when they are created? I am using both Windows and Linux versions of ANVEL. Also, is there a way to use this program on an ogre mesh or object without creating an environment? This would save for my application of automatically creating environment terrain from LIDAR scans.

Thanks for writing in - we're happy to help. For the export heightmap menu option, a dialog will allow you to specify the location for the .obj to be created.

For your second question, we recommend making an environment if you are working with terrain data. However, you can also convert .obj files to OGRE meshes and then use them as placeable objects. This wiki page might help you get started: http://wiki.anvelsim.com/2/index.php/Object_Definition_Overview

Hopefully this answers your questions!

Regards,
ANVEL Support

This issue can addressed through the GUI by going into your vehicle's motor components, as shown below.

Inside of the transfer case component(which controls the power to the front and rear axles), if you click on the drop down for OutputMode, you will see None, First Only, Second Only, and the default Both. Depending on your transfer case definition in your vehicle definition file, "First Only" and "Second Only" refers to output1 and output2 respectively in the below XML snippet.

<transferCase efficiency="0.89" name="transferCase" output1="rearAxle" output2="frontAxle" slip="10" type="locking"> <ratio value="1.0"/> <ratio value="2.72"/> </transferCase>

So in this case, First Only would be RWD, Second Only would be FWD and Both would be AWD.
Since this is a changeable property in the properties menu, you can also manipulate these values through the External API at run time.

What that might look like using Python through the External API:

transferCase = anvel.GetObjectDescriptorByTypeAndName("TorqueSplitter", "transferCase") anvel.SetProperty(transferCase.id, "OutputMode", "2") # 2 is the index in the list which corresponds to Second Only

For more information on transfer cases and power trains in general, please refer to https://wiki.anvelsim.com/index.php/Generic_Powertrain .

Solved:

the SetVehicleInput function was being called as if it were a stand-alone function:

SetVehicleInput(vehicleDesc.id, vehicleInputRecord);

Fixed by changing it to be called as a member function of the instance of ANVEL:

anv.SetVehicle(vehivleDesc.id, vehicleInputRecord);

Where anv is described as follows:
client = com.quantumsignal.AnvelConnector.AnvelClient('127.0.0.1', 9094);
anv = client.anvel;

Thanks guys, that would explain it!

@jmk479 said in Attach Python Script:

Hi,

We are trying to figure out how to attach a python script within the GUI. We have looked at the example and still have some questions. Where should the python files be stored on the network? Do you have a end to end example on how to do it?

Thank you.

jmk479,

We're working on an example on how to attach a python script to an object. Please stay tuned.

Regards,
The ANVEL Team

@zen_perception,

Currently, the Sample Camera and API Camera are able to achieve a wide-angle view, similar to a fisheye lens but without the distortion. We were able to get it up to about 180 degrees horizontal, which is unfortunately the limitation of the rendering engine. As you noticed, there is an issue with setting the hFOV and vFOV properties directly, but the ccdWidth, ccdHeight, and FocalLength combine to determine the FOV. If you define the camera as so:

<sensor name="API Fisheye Camera" sensorType="APICameraSensor" preview="CameraBig.png" objectAsset="CameraObject" sampleRate="30" portNumber="0" quality="15" tags="ANVEL_Common"> <lens resolutionX="1928" resolutionY="1208" ccdWidth="200" ccdHeight="4.99" focalLength="2.09" > <position x="0.13" y="0.0" z="0"/> <orientation w="1.0" x="0.0" y="0.0" z="0.0"/> </lens> </sensor>

This screen capture includes a standard SampleCamera aligned with a FisheyeCamera to show the same scene from two different lens views.

Click on the image to view the properties of the camera.

Thank you for your question, and hopefully this gets you closer to what you're looking for. True fisheye lenses would be a great addition to a future version of ANVEL, so we'll keep it in mind!

Regards,
The ANVEL Team

I got it to work
Thanks,

Collin

For all those who are interested we were able to find an alternative to thrift in creating executables. This is a relatively new development for python to convert a .py to a .exe. It has worked on creating scripted simulations as executables relatively painless. I have included the links to the pages below.

http://nitratine.pythonanywhere.com/projects/auto-py-to-exe
https://github.com/brentvollebregt/auto-py-to-exe

Here is how to out put Steering Angle and Slip Angles. Thanks to Cale Campbell and John Brabbs.

vehicleDescriptor = anv.GetObjectDescriptorByTypeAndName('Vehicle','MRZR5')
vehChildren = list(anv.EnumerateChildrenObjects(vehicleDescriptor.id))
allWheels = list(anv.EnumerateObjectsByType('ODE Wheel'))
vehWheels = [x for x in list(allWheels) if x.name in[y.name for y in vehChildren]]
SteergAng = [(wheel.name,anv.GetProperty(wheel.id,'Steering Angle')) for wheel in vehWheels]
print SteergAng
slipAngles = [(wheel.name,anv.GetProperty(wheel.id,'Slip Angle')) for wheel in vehWheels]
for item in slipAngles:
print item

Next is Hand wheel steering angle :-)